As discussed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,958,535 and 4,022,159, it was essential that animals being used in controlled scientific experiments have sterile water available at all times. A corollary of that general problem was the one involving the shipment of animals from the breeders to the laboratories conducting the experiments. In the prior art, pieces of vegetables, fruits or canned gel diets were used in the expectation that the animals in eating these materials would obtain sufficient liquid to survive during the period of travel. The latter patent disclosed as an alternative solution, the use of disposable bags of sterile water located in a compartment attached to a shipping cage and a demand feeding valve having a piercing point inserted into the bag.
Accordingly it is the primary object of this invention to provide an improved and simplified arrangement for securing a feeding valve to a compartment in a shipping cage.
Another object of this invention is to provide a demand feeding valve having integral retaining flanges.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved compartment attached to a shipping cage for containing a disposable bag of sterile water.